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How to Keep Ants Off Flowering Vines, Vegetables and Flowers If you follow some of these tips, soon your ant problem will be gone and you will be able to enjoy your ant-free garden.

What Is Native Landscaping? Natural landscaping is a type of gardening well-suited for today. It not only makes use of native plants that require far less in terms of pesticides and fertilizers than fancy cultivars, but it also reduces and can sometimes eliminate the need for irrigation. As the environmental, economic and aesthetic benefits of natural landscaping are becoming better known, many are urging community leaders to incorporate these principals on government managed lands....

About Breadfruit Pruning Trimming breadfruit trees annually encourages new growth and maintains the desired size and shape. Pruning a breadfruit tree should be done every year, beginning after the trees are two or three years old. The ideal time for pruning a breadfruit is after completion of harvest, but before vigorous new growth begins. Cutting back a breadfruit is easiest when the tree is no more than 20 to 25 feet (6-8 m....

Lavender for Food Lavender is often found in soaps, perfumes, aerosol sprays, lotions, potpourris and even candles. Most people love the scent but can’t imagine it in food. The type of lavender used in cosmetics is French lavender while the type for culinary use is called English lavender. While all lavender is safe to eat, English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) or “true” lavender contains much less essential oil than its aromatic cousin used in perfumes and soaps....

Reducing Humidity with Plants Using plants in the home can be useful in many ways. One of the more interesting uses is their use as dehumidifiers. What plants absorb humidity? Actually, most plants harvest some moisture from the air through their leaves, but a few are extremely efficient at the process and take much of their moisture through their leaves. This is good news since high moisture levels in the home can be associated with respiratory problems and threaten the structure of your house....

In this article we will take a look at Spot Anthracnose. Spot anthracnose, or Anthracnose, is a disease caused by a fungus that infects some rose bushes. Identifying Spot Anthracnose on Roses Not much is known about spot anthracnose except that it seems to be most severe during the cool, moist conditions of spring. Typically wild roses, climbing roses, and rambler roses are the most susceptible to this disease, however, some hybrid tea roses and shrub roses will also contract the disease....

When to Plant Your Vegetable Garden It’s easy to go by the frost-free dates that are expected during spring or fall as well as the hardiness of the plants themselves. To determine the best time to plant vegetables in the spring, check the hardiness zones for your area. These zones can be found on individual seed packets or in most gardening books. Crop Planting Info Most crop planting info on when to plant vegetables centers around the types of crops grown– early, hardy/half-hardy, midseason, and tender crops....

About the Integro Cabbage Variety Integro is a hybrid variety of red, ballhead cabbage. Ballhead varieties are the classic shapes you think of when imagining cabbage – compact, round balls of tightly packed leaves. This is the most common type of cabbage and all ballheads are great for eating fresh, pickling, making sauerkraut, sautéing, and roasting. Integro cabbage plants are medium in size, with heads that grow to about 3 or 4 pounds (around 2 kg....

Growing edible houseplants satisfies the urge in many of us to grow, nurture, and harvest our own foodstuffs. Even in a small apartment, it’s possible to grow edible plants indoors. Growing edible houseplants are free of pesticides or herbicides and are a boon to the growing number of people who are environmentally and health-conscious. It can also be less expensive than store-bought produce. What Houseplants are Edible? First, let it be said that almost any plant that can be grown in the garden can be grown indoors as well....

What is Japanese Ardisia? Japanese ardisia is a creeping, woody shrub that only grows 8 to 12 (20-31 cm.) tall. Spreading by rhizomes, it can get 3 foot (1 m.) or wider. If you are familiar with plants that spread by rhizomes, you may wonder is ardisia invasive? Coral ardisia (Ardisia crenata), a close relative of Japanese ardisia, is considered an invasive species in some locations. However, Japanese ardisia does not share coral ardisia’s invasive species status....

Native to Southeast Asia, java fern attaches itself to rocks or other porous surfaces in rivers and streams where the strong roots keep the plant from being washed away in the current. Interested in growing java fern for aquariums? Read on for basic information on growing this interesting plant. Planting Java Fern in a Fish Tank There are several varieties of java fern for aquariums, including Windilov, Needle Leaf, Fern Trident, and Narrow Leaf....

Is Jerusalem Artichoke Invasive? Although the sturdy underground tubers of Jerusalem artichoke are edible and highly nutritious, they make the plant extremely difficult to control. Each plant produces from 75 to 200 tubers in a single growing season, and each tuber is capable of sending out up to six shoots. It’s easy to understand how Jerusalem artichoke weeds create major headaches. How to Control Jerusalem Artichokes Jerusalem artichoke develops new shoots only on tubers formed the previous year....

What is Knotgrass? Knotgrass is a perennial warm season plant that creeps together with rhizomes and forms a green mass. The plant sends out stems with growth nodes, and each node can root and start a new clump of the grass. The blades of knotgrass plants are flat and tapers, and the plant sends up 18 inch (46 cm.) tall flower stems with pink, red, green, or white blooms. The overall mat is only 2 to 6 inches (5-15 cm....

What is a Korean Maple? Korean maple trees (Acer pseudosieboldianum) look quite a bit like the popular Japanese maples, but they are hardier. The trees thrive in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 8. The tree is native to China and Korea, where it grows in forested areas. This small, specialty maple matures to about 25 feet tall (7.5 m.) and wide. Korean Maple Information The Korean maple is a delicate tree with some exceptional features....

What better way to celebrate than to collect a bouquet of fresh cut garden flowers as a gift for the host of your next Labor Day party, or simply to brighten up your own table? Labor Day Flower Arrangements Labor Day flower arrangements can be a fun way to use the garden in your next celebration. While floral Labor Day arrangements can be purchased, those created from the garden are only limited by the imagination....

The end of the harvest season signals the beginning of soil protection. As our harvests are finishing, the vegetable garden should be tidied and rejuvenated for the following season. Summer cover crops started in August take advantage of the warm weather for quick germination and establishment. Legumes and grains are the top choices for cover crops, with each having distinct benefits. Grains vs Legumes Some cover crops are best sown in spring, such as Dutch clover....

Can You Compost Liquids? Eco-friendly cooks and gardeners often save organic matter in piles or bins and make their own compost. These should have a good balance of nitrogen and carbon, sit in a sunny location, and be turned frequently for best results. The other ingredient is moisture. This is where adding liquids to compost can help. There are a variety of liquids that are suitable, but a few you should probably avoid....

What is Yugoslavian Red Lettuce? Yugoslavian Red lettuce is a variety of crisp butterhead (or Bibb) lettuce. Butterhead lettuces are known for their loosely formed heads. Like most lettuce, Yugoslavian Red thrives when temperatures are cool in late fall and early spring. Reaching 10 to 12 inches (25-31 cm.) at maturity, this lettuce is prized for its beautiful green-yellow color with light red-purple blushing. Popular for its mild and buttery taste, Yugoslavian Red lettuce plants are an excellent choice for containers, as well as for direct seedings in the garden....

What is Lettuce Mosaic? If your greens are afflicted with something and you suspect it might be viral, a couple of good questions to answer are: What is lettuce mosaic? What are the signs of lettuce mosaic? Lettuce mosaic virus is just that– a virus that is seed borne in all types of lettuce except endive. It is the result of infected seeds, although weed hosts are carriers, and the disease can be vectored by aphids, which spread the virus throughout the crop and into nearby flora....

What are Nematodes? Nematodes are parasites that attack plants. They are roundworms that are microscopic in size, so that you can’t see them, and they feed on the roots of plants. The nematodes of lettuce infestations may be one or more of numerous varieties. There are nearly 50 species of nematodes that may feast on lettuce, depending on geographic location. Nematode Damage in Lettuce The type of damage that nematodes cause in lettuce depends on the species causing the infestation....